Westport, Punakaki to Ross






 We had a nice stay at the top 10 campground in Westport and then after a quick shop at Mitre 10 (amazing store similar to Canadian Tire but w building supplies too), headed south towards Punakaki.

It was a beautiful hot, sunny day.  At Punakaki we took a short walk to the pancake rocks and blow hole but could not find either entrance to the trail up the river, so we decided to stop for an ipa at this little spot and then headed south towards the town of Ross.





At Ross there was heavy rain expected so we opted for the Ross Motel.  A very sweet host and the room was newly renovated and perfect.  5 star.  Just behind it was the Historic Empire Hotel.  It burned down in 1906 and was rebuilt in 1908, a historic gold mining town and the hotel reminded me of the old Wells Hotel near Barkerville.  

The bartender ended up playing pool w us later on when the manager and his wife took over behind the bar.  This place was filled w character and had lots of characters in it as well.  Highly recommend to give this old charmer a visit if you are ever heading through Ross.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jan 5. Kaikoura to Abel Tasman Nat Park

Image
 We stayed last night at Peteka Campground in a little cabin to avoid the impending wind and  rain.  It appears that we are fair weather tenters.  They had a nice shower house and outdoor communal cooking area.  5 star. Hafeeza and Abdullah enjoying their fist meat pie.  For breakfast no less! This young man is our master of wifi and phone tech support.  He is relentless. Our day today was a long driving day of 4.5 hours- broken up by a wonderful tour of the Yealands winery, a world leader in sustainability.  Built by Peter Leland.  “Be bold but tread lightly”. And “never say it can’t be done” Peter Yealand started the practise of baling up the old vines as they were pulled out and burning them to generate energy for the winery.   Peter Yealand also initiated the practise of inter row planting legumes and pollinator species and then grazing with babydoll sheep.   This breed is shorter legged and cannot reach as high on the vine so d...
Read more

Camp to Aanascaul

Image
  Leaving Camp Juction B&B off to Annascaul. Day 2 on Dingle Way.   This stream early in the day was such a pretty spot and the video is pretty funny- she’s not that bossy normally lol. We came across the cutest pair of lambs here and I’m pretty sure this is the range of the farmer I was chatting to the night before.  Annie and Stetley will get a kick out of these two. We had a couple cheese and crackers here and barb cleaned her boots a bit inside and out lol.  Turns out she’s a sheep sh. magnet.   Over the main range w Inch Beach in the background. Beaches and grassers in the same photo- loved that and they seemed to take a liking to Barb.  We saw quite a few Holstein/Angus steers in this region that farmers utilize for their extra grass.   Tom Crean was serving in the Navy in New Zealand when he saw this ad. The fellows in the bar last night recommended the South Pole Inn as our base camp for this evening.  We stumbled in at 2 pm and enjoye...
Read more

New Zealand - Jan 4 Christchurch to Kaikoura

Image
  I arrived at Christchurch airport relatively unscathed except for the security at Auckland airport confiscating my tent pegs.  Hafeeza and Abdullah were there to greet me, we picked up our suv and let the adventure begin! First stop was 30 mins NE of Christchurch to visit Todd Barnes and fam.  Todd lived w us at Black Creek 26 years ago and we picked up like it was yesterday.  He and his wife Roz treated us just like family.  We had a great catch up, and they sent us on our way with a full bag of cherries, tent pegs a hammer and 2 bedrolls.   The photos below are a look around their 55 acre farm and I’ll take more photo when we return in 10 days time. Notice pasture chickens in background.  The sheep shed their wool so no shearing involved. Todd grows their cherries in this greenhouse and his girls pick and sell them at the end of their driveway.  His girls are both competitive rowers and are both tall and gorgeous.
Read more